My name is Sharon Garofalow. Based in So Cal, I am the mom to two amazing little boys and married to the raddest man in all the land. This is where I share a collection of cool, created by me or curated from around the web. I focus on untraditional party themes, unfussy fashion and creative activities for your modern family.cupcakesandcutlery@gmail.com

Holidays at Disneyland Resort are magical and are happening right now! It’s the perfect time to plan a family fun day at Disneyland and California Adventure! This past weekend my family got to check out all of the amazing holiday experiences that both parks have to offer. We love to visit Disneyland during this magical time of year. Disneyland is always a good time but with their extra special details and amazing decorations, the holidays are truly my favorite. Both parks have their own exciting festivities making it a great idea to grab a park hopper ticket and check them both out! Holidays at California Adventure

The decorated Christmas tree on Buena Vista Street is a site to see! It’s huge! It’s a great spot to grab a photo with a Disney character or just enjoy some people watching! Don’t miss the tree lighting, every day, at 4:55 pm through December 30th.The Festival of Holidays is a cool addition to the park this year! It’s a celebration of holiday festivities from around the world and includes food and drinks, craft-making and entertainment. All throughout the park you can find kiosks (14 of them!) featuring anything you could possibly think of to celebrate the season.Some stands have gift ideas. This kiosk was my favorite and was full of aromatherapy items. There were also areas where kids could decorate holiday cookies or color in themed coloring sheets. There was truly something for everyone in the family. The festivities also include several entertainment options. These Holiday Toy Drummers play at various times throughout the weekends. They are FANTASTIC! They are full of energy and make you want to dance! You can also see the Stilt Circus, Mariachi Divas and several dance groups. Make sure to pick up a schedule of events from various displays around the park. And don’t miss Princess Elena’s Musical Grand Arrival! She’s a new addition at the park and your kids will love her song-filled celebration! When the show is over, meet Princess Elena of Avalor in Paradise Garden and grab her autograph and a photo.

The Festival of Holidays also includes the Festive Foods Marketplace which was one of my favorite things. From tasty treats to adult beverages, you could make a day out of snacking your way through California Adventure. Local, seasonal and International beer tasting flights, glasses of prosecco and warm holiday spiced wines are just a few of the fun beverages to be found. Tamales, Roasted Turkey Sliders, Sticky Toffee Pudding and more seasonal favorites are also available. And no holiday visit is complete without a meeting with Santa! Just head to the Ahwahnee Camp Circle near the entrance of the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail. Be sure to add your name to the nice list to find out what your elf name is!California Adventure goes all out with the holiday decorations in Carsland and there are several fun photo opportunities to help you create memories from your trip to the park. It’s one of our favorite parts of the holidays!This photo does not do the World of Color – Season of Light, justice. This nightly show turns water, music and storytelling in to a holiday event. It’s truly captivating and something not to be missed! Fast Passes are available (in Paradise Park) and will allow you access to reserved viewing sections. There is nothing like this show! The walls of mist act as giant projection screens and are an amazing way to share the season’s messages of love and togetherness through our favorite Disney characters and animation. Holidays at Disneyland

Sleeping Beauty’s Winter Castle is all decked out in her holiday best! In the day, you can marvel at the garlands and wreaths and snow capped turrets. When the lights go down, the castle is truly magical. The shimmering lights look like glistening snow and create a site to behold. One of my favorite parts of the holidays at Disneyland resort is the special makeovers several of the rides get. Jungle Cruise becomes Jingle Cruise and all through out the ride you can find touches of holiday decorations and updated stories from the boat captains. At every turn, you’ll find the animals getting in to mischief with holiday decorations. It’s really fun and the kids love it!

Two other Disneyland favorites also get the holiday treatment. It’s a Small World shares multi-cultural sentiments of the season through out the ride as well as a huge sparkly snowman. During the day, the classic facade is mainly unchanged except for a playful Santa hat placed on the smiling face. But after night fall, the building comes alive with TONS of colorful lights at night! It’s so fun!

The Haunted Mansion gets a merry makeover and festive touches celebrating with Jack Skellington. There are seasonal surprises, throughout, featuring your favorite Nightmare Before Christmas characters. And don’t miss the ginger-dread house!The parades have always been one of my favorite parts of Disneyland but the “A Christmas Fantasy” parade is exceptional. Dancing reindeer and gingerbread cookies bring the holiday spirit along with some of your favorite Disney characters on themed floats. And what is a holiday parade without a visit from Santa! Santa and his toy filled sleigh is the perfect ending to a joyful holiday tradition. The castle is the perfect place to watch the “Believe…in Holiday Magic” Disneyland fireworks. Seasonal songs play as the fireworks explode high in the air. And the most magical part is at the conclusion as snow begins to fall on main street! It is truly the most magical way to end your day at the parks.

Holiday at Disneyland resort is a special time. Don’t forget to take advantage of Disney’s PhotoPass® Service to professionally capture those magical memories. You can link, purchase or share your photos online or from any mobile device using the Disneyland mobile app.

This post could also be titled “How Someone Who Doesn’t Like to Exercise Survives on a Wellness Retreat.” Because my family laughed at me when I told them I was heading up to The Oaks at Ojai to check out the resort. I was super athletic in high school. And then I graduated. I don’t love to sweat and I hate being sore. I know I’m not alone in that. And I totally get why you need to sweat and work out and be healthy. I just don’t have the drive to want to do it daily. Or be excited about it. But I love the idea of wellness. I know I need to take better care of myself so when I was invited to go on a hosted girlfriend getaway to The Oaks at Ojai I said yes! And then got worried that I would hate every second of it. The Oaks at Ojai is a wellness and spa retreat in the foothills of Ojai, California. It’s located right at the edge of town making it the perfect place to stay where everything is right in walking distance. I don’t know how I missed it, but the first page of their website says that it is the only spa retreat in the US designed for women over 40. You guys! I’m not 40 yet! I might even be offended that I was invited if it wasn’t for the fact that I so identify with older women. In my heart I knit and sip tea and watch Matlock. And while we were the youngest people there, I never felt out-of-place. Since my visit I’ve heard from friends who visit every year and are also under 40. If you are looking for the perfect spot for your next girl’s trip and you want to rage and party all night long, this isn’t for you. If you are looking for a place to rest, relax and work out a little, then The Oaks at Ojai could be the place for you. The staff was very friendly, from the moment we checked in all the way until they called to see if they could pack up our lunch on the last day for us to take on the road.

BTW, they have great special offers from time to time, be sure to check them out here! The resort is small but comfortable. It was a 1920’s hotel that they turned in to a spa that is top rated among several top travel publications. We participated in an orientation that showed us around the property and let us know some of the basics for an enjoyable stay. The resort offers about 15 different work out classes a day making it super easy to find things you might like to do or try out for the first time. Plus they have an area off the lobby with workout equipment if that is more your speed. It is suggested that you do 3 classes a day and have one be strength focused, one be flexibility focused and one be cardio focused. I was super nervous about this because I haven’t really worked out in years! Sure, I’ll work out for a week here or there, but I don’t have a consistent routine. And being sore ruins trips for me so I was nervous I’d have to have my pal (who does boot camp every day!) drive me home. The dining room is where the meals are served and I was nervous about how the food would be at a wellness resort. I like healthy food but I didn’t know how extreme that would go. The decor is not hip, it’s fairly traditional but very nice quality and comfortable. We also found out that you can take your meals to your room which we did. There is nothing more indulgent than getting to eat dinner in front of the TV in your pajamas. Which, after all those exercise classes, I think I deserved. I did find out, though, that dress code for the resort, including meals in the dining room is super casual. Like, wear your robe to dinner if you want, casual. I LOVE that! While the resort is mostly women, there were a few men there too. They offer several different room types and while some people visit year after year with the same group of friends, you can also visit by yourself. The resort can help pair you up to share a room if you need to. We checked in on a Sunday and the resort was pretty quiet. We were put in a suite that had a beautiful patio and sitting area making being in the room feel like home. I don’t know how I managed to not get a photo of the pool that is literally just to the right of what I photographed above. The pool is heated to a comfortable temperature and there is also a jacuzzi to use. The pool is used for several classes and also for leisure.Each morning the resort offers 3 different hikes. One is a 30 minute stroll around town, another is a brisk walk that lasts about an hour and finally an intermediate hike that lasts about an hour and a half. We got up bright and early to do the intermediate hike. I had tried to talk my friend in to taking a step down and doing one that was a little less strenuous but she pushed me to go for it. And I’m so glad she did. The hike was gorgeous! It took us up in to the hills where there are beautiful homes and vineyards. I won’t lie, there was one point where I didn’t think I could go any further. I was almost ready to tell the group to just swing by and grab me on their way back down. But I sucked it up and kept going. Again, so glad I did. The hike was about 4 miles and yes, I was sore for the next few days. The Oaks at Ojai offers all kinds of classes and activities at the resort and away. If we had wanted to, we could have scheduled a guided bike ride through town, or several other outdoor activities (some of which are not included in the resort price). The town is amazing so I loved that there are options to be active and still be able to get to experience and explore the town.We took a stretch class that was awesome and I highly recommend it to everyone staying at the resort. It was the perfect thing to stretch out all those muscles you’ve just exhausted! There was music playing and a great instructor and it was perfect for every level of athleticism.The Oaks at Ojai also has a nice spa program that compliments the nutrition and fitness components. I was totally spoiled on this visit and got to have a Fit and Firm VitaD Fortified Lifting Facial with AHA using awesome SkinAuthority products. This vitamin infused facial includes an AHA resurfacing (like a really mild peel) and a super hydrating mask with essential oils. While the mask was setting the therapist gave me the most amazing reflexology foot massage followed by a shoulder and neck massage. It was SO relaxing! My skin seemed brighter and smoother and it was the most amazing way to spend 75 minutes! They have the products available for purchase on-site and Skin Authority sent some product home with me as well. I LOVE the Exfoliating Cleanser and I know my skin is going to love the Calming Mask!Now let’s talk about the food. It was really good! It tasted healthy, but was delicious. The resort is known for the muffins they serve at breakfast so I was excited to try them out. They are about 100 calories and were a different flavor each day. Again, healthy but tasty! They have a menu posted with breakfast options and the calorie count so you are free to build your own meal. I wasn’t sure how many calories I should aim for so I just followed what a lot of the other guests did. I did a muffin, hard-boiled egg and fruit. And coffee! Being a wellness resort, I was worried they wouldn’t have coffee. But they did and all was well. The room where the serve breakfast has ice water, ice tea, hot tea and coffee available all day along with a fruit bowl. They bring out other snacks a few other times during the day like veggies and dip in the afternoon. I never felt like I was going to starve or was deprived of anything while at the resort.The rest of the meals were also delicious! I’m pretty sure that there were very few fats included in these dishes but they were so flavorful. This was the meal from our first night and it started off with a tangerine and baby kale salad with avocado and almonds. The dressing was light and citrusy (50 calories). The main course was wild Coho salmon with a remoulade (180 calories), with sides of spaghetti squash and Swiss chard (70 calories). They serve dessert every night and this night was a simple dark chocolate mousse with berries (50 calories). I was full but not stuffed. I was not left wanting anything more. Their approach to food is to make it delicious using fresh ingredients that pack tons of flavor. I was pleasantly surprised by the food!

The Oaks offers a nutritious, well-rounded, 1,200-calorie a day food plan that consists of three meals, snacks and beverages. The varied menus feature natural foods, fresh fish and poultry, locally-grown fruits and vegetables, homemade salad dressings, salsas and soups – all without a touch of additional salt or refined sugar used in the preparation. Many meals feature freshly-grown herbs from The Oaks’ gardens.If you have been wanting to check out wellness retreats, The Oaks at Ojai is the perfect place to go. It’s more affordable than a lot of the ritzy retreats. The per person price includes your meals and most classes for the duration of your stay. This place is what you make it. You can keep it relaxed or you can really push yourself. I never felt judgement from staff or other guests which I was worried I would. The Oaks at Ojai is a short drive from Orange County and LA and I think you’ll have an enjoyable time!

For more info on their wellness retreats check out The Oaks at Ojai website. On the site you can find a sample list of the fitness classes offered, as well as some education and other learning that have almost every night!

PLUS! They also have some great special offers! My getaway was part of the “Bring a Friend” offer which they are extending in to the new year! When you visit with a friend, and share a room, you’ll both save 25%! Or you can make it a mother/daughter trip and each daughter saves 40%! (Some restrictions apply). These great deals make it ever more affordable to visit! Check them out!

Looking for family funday ideas? You totally need to take the train. A family train trip is just what the doctor ordered! Even if your family doesn’t get a lot of opportunities to travel, a day trip can be super memorable and totally awesome for the kids. A few months ago, we got the opportunity to go on a family adventure that involved taking the train for an overnight trip in San Diego. While we loved all the activities we got to do together, one of our favorite parts was the train ride! We’ve taken train trips only a few times before and they only required riding it a few stops. This time, our train ride was a few hours. The boys had a blast exploring the train and watching the scenery zoom past. If you are looking for something fun to do with your kids for the day, this is it. For our trip we rode Amtrak Business Class and I highly recommend it. While it might seem like more money than you want to spend on travel, it was really THE experience that the kids will remember most. When we first got on the train, we didn’t know we had Business Class tickets. We were seated across from the kids in a VERY busy train car that was almost totally full. When the ticket checker came to us she suggested we move to the Business Class area immediately as the cars would be standing room only by the next stop. So we hurried to the right car before the train started and were so glad that we did.While the regular seats on the train are fine, the cars feel a bit cramped and they are super crowded. While we were able to find seats by our kids, that was just us getting lucky. If you are taking a busy route, even weekends can be hard to find seats all together. Business class was super roomy and there was plenty of space for us to sit together as a family including some seats with tables. Our return trip was full, even in Business Class, so don’t assume you’ll always have the run of the car. But it is less likely to be as crowded as the regular seats.There are a few perks in Business class. Like free sodas. If your kids are like mine and don’t drink a lot of soda, this blew their minds! The sodas were passed out near the end of our route. When we first got on the train, however, there were free juice boxes, hot cocoa and coffee, as well as breakfast pastries. It’s amazing what free snacks will do for a family trip. The other great thing is that just about every seat (Business Class or standard seats) has a plug for you to charge your device as you travel. While we didn’t plan very much to keep us busy on the train trip, I would at least plan on bringing a small pad of paper and pencils or pens so the kids can play games, doodle, etc. We couldn’t bring electronics on our trip and I was really happy about that. I wanted to make sure the kids were looking out the windows and experiencing the scenery. Next time I would probably bring a book for myself to read. Also near the end of our route, snack bags were passed out with water or soda. It was like Christmas morning! Each bag contained fig bar cookies, a bag or chips, mini Oreos, a trail mix and a few hard candies. And for the adults they offered wine (and maybe beer – I can’t remember!). I am always conscious of how much money we are spending on family excursions. There was no way we would finish all these snacks before we got off the train. So we took what was left with us and took bottled water for the road as well. Depending on where you go and how you time your day, you may only need to pay for one meal out. We got these snack bags on our return trip as well (these may not be available on trips where you are only riding a few stops). If you spend an hour researching the location you are interested in visiting you can probably put together a list of fun, free activities to do as part of your train trip.

If you go to the Amtrak website you can check out all the train routes, prices and trip planning information. They even have suggestions for walking tours of major cities that you can do on foot once you arrive at the train station. The site also has a “deals” section where you can see if they have promotions that might help you save a few dollars on your trip. It looks like kids are 50% off (most days, most trains – see exclusions) which is a great deal! I highly suggest planning a family train day trip. We had the BEST time and the kids still talk about their day on the train.

This post is not sponsored. We had such a great time on our train ride that I thought your family should take one too!

I grew up in Anaheim, California about 15 minutes from Disneyland. For many of my adolescent years, we had annual passes to the happiest place on earth which meant we could go any time we wanted. And boy, did we go a lot. When I was around 10 years old, the theme park celebrated their 30th anniversary. It was a HUGE celebration. Every time you entered the park, you won something whether it was a pin (there were sets you could collect), free tickets to the park or even cars. Needless to say, we went just about every day to see what we could win. We ended up with a lot of pins, 12 free tickets, 0 cars and a jaded sense of what the perfect day at Disneyland looks like. As we got older, we let the annual passes expire. We slowly used up all those free passes over the next 10 years. And I didn’t want to spend an entire day at the park waiting in lines with those crazy crowds.

Then I had kids. We didn’t take them to Disneyland right away since the park had become so expensive. We took my oldest for the first time at 5 and had a lovely time. My youngest also got to go when he was 5 and it was fine. Even though we only live about 25 minutes away from the park, the kids had never really asked to go back. So we didn’t suggest it either. But being in such close proximity to the park, and remembering all the fun times I had growing up there, made me feel like we needed to plan a trip. Luckily the kids each got a ticket to the park for volunteering with their Cub Scout troop cheering on the runners at the Disney Half Marathon. With two tickets out-of-the-way, I requested 2 media tickets to the park so that our family could have a fun, family day. I was approved for the tickets and we set out to plan our day. The kids were ecstatic and quite frankly, I was too. I had finally outgrown my resistance to spending a whole day at Disneyland.

It was important to me that we all had a great day. I put some thought in to how we could make that happen and looked up tools and resources that would help us maximize our fun. I’m so glad I took the time to do that so that we could have the perfect family day at Disneyland. Here are my tips for helping you plan your day, especially if you are like us, and can’t afford annual passes or to go multiple times a year. WHEN TO GO

I’m a huge fan of school, but I knew that if we wanted to get in the most rides, which is what would be most fun for my kids at this age, we would need to go on a school day. I had read somewhere (I could totally be wrong) that Tuesdays are a great day to go so that is when we went. I looked at the park calendar to see what time they opened and closed to make sure that we would have a full day. Depending on the time of year and day of the week, the park may close on the early side, so be sure to check this out when you are picking your day. I also wanted to make sure it wasn’t too close to a school holiday which could mean that more people might have traveled for an extended family vacation. September is always a gamble with weather and is often our hottest month. Think about yourself and the kids and pick a time of year when you’ll all be the most comfortable. I love to visit the park when they are celebrating holidays. There is something extra special about the elaborate decorations they have throughout the park. Halloween Time is especially fun and they nail the details at every turn. Luckily, they decorate on the early side which means that you can experience the extra decor without running in to the extra crowds. Although it would be fun to attend Mickey’s Halloween Party with trick or treating and other awesome activities (separate admission required), it is not in our budget this year. When Halloween is over, they will begin the transition to their holiday decorations. Winter at Disneyland is pure magic.

WHAT TO WEAR

Whatever you wear, make sure that you are weather appropriate and you think ahead to what you might need from morning to night. The day we went it was over 90 degrees and super humid. It was a rather unusual weather pattern for us so I wasn’t sure what night fall would bring. I packed one small bag with pants and a sweatshirt for each of us and we kept it in a locker on Main Street, just in case. Although the $13 for the day use of a locker was a little hard to swallow (I remember putting quarters in) it was so nice to know that we had it there and that everyone would be comfortable. I also wore sneakers since I knew they would keep me the most comfortable. Look, I’m all for a cute outfit, but it’s not a fashion show. You will literally be on your feet all day so resist the urge to wear your cutest sandals and give yourself some arch support. You deserve it. DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE FAST PASS

This was our first experience with using the Fast Pass system. In short, this is stinking awesome. I was a little afraid of them at first, since I didn’t know how to use it but it really does cut the waiting time down for some of the big, popular rides at the park. All you do is find the kiosk (most often right across from the ride you are hoping to get one for) and insert your park ticket. It spits out a Fast Pass which gives you a window of when to come back to ride. Do this for each person in your party and when you return to the ride during your allotted time, you get to bypass the long line and wait a much shorter time. After we did this once, we were all about it and began to strategize even more. If you are planning on coming on a busy day, I would research more on the Disney fan sites online to work out the most strategic use of these passes. You really can save a ton of time with a little advanced planning.THERE’S AN APP FOR THAT

There are tons of Disney focused apps (including the official Disneyland Resort app) that you can download that will help you make the most of your trip. I found one called Mouse Addict which I thought was great. I am sure there are some with more bells and whistles but this one had everything that we needed. The thing I thought was most helpful was the wait times for the rides. This helped us manage our kid’s expectations and plan out our rides based on wait time. It also had a map of the park and could help you find specific food options.WHAT TO RIDE

I knew there was no way we’d be able to ride everything in the park. In the days leading up to the visit, I had each person in the family pick their favorite ride or a ride they HAD to go on so that we could prioritize them. For me, it was the old classic, It’s a Small World. For my oldest it was California Screaming and for my youngest it was any roller coaster. He was really afraid of Space Mountain when we first road it. But by the end of the day he had been on it 3 times. The day we went was amazing. It wasn’t that crowded and we could ride most rides multiple times. Also, keep in mind that sometimes the rides are less busy during the parade time! We had no trouble getting on the rides the family members requested. If you think about it, on busy days, with long ride wait times, you realistically might only be able to get on 4-5 rides. If you don’t plan ahead for that, one person might end up out of luck and feel like they missed out on something special. It is also important to think about the rides that might be different to ride at night. I didn’t even think about all the things you wouldn’t be able to see while on the Jungle Cruise until we were on the boat in the dark. Although they had some spotlights to show you the animals, it was just not the same as experiencing it in the day time. Similarly, riding the outdoor roller coasters at night is a totally new experience. Consider riding Thunder Mountain in the day and at night so the kids can see the difference. We hadn’t planned this, but my husband and I each ended up having one on one time with each kid that day. Since the media tickets were park hoppers, I was able to take my older son over to ride California Screaming (luckily this didn’t cause a scene with my youngest as I wasn’t sure how he would react to not getting to check out the other park too). It was so much fun to get to spend time with him, doing something new. And taking selfies. Earlier in the day, I had taken my younger son on some rides while my husband took my older son to see the Star Wars Launch Bay attraction. This really added to the bonding that we got to do as a family, even though we were sometimes apart.

HOT TIP: Upon leaving California Adventure, literally a step out of the exit gate, I realized that we hadn’t gotten our hands stamped, just in case. I approached the Disneyland Cast Member we had just exited near and asked her about the hand stamp. She was not eager to give us the stamp as she didn’t remember us. I totally understood. She then told me that if I could show her our park hopper passes and a selfie from inside the park, that she could do it. Boom. Never have I ever been so excited to have a selfie before. We didn’t end up going back to CA Adventure that day but we could have if we wanted to thanks to the selfie.

WHAT TO EAT

Or rather, what not to eat. It’s all delicious. But know what you really want before you go. When you follow yummy Instagram accounts like @ThingsIAteatDisneyland and @FirstComesLatte, who regularly posts food from her Disneyland trips, you kind of already know what you want to try. There are only so many hours in the day and you KNOW your kids are going to ask for snacks. Since my kids didn’t really know what delicious food was offered at Disneyland, I led the way on this. I knew I needed to try the Dole Whip, the Mickey Beignets and some popcorn (the popcorn was always one of my favorite treats as a kid).

HOT TIP: I learned after my trip that you can pretty much skip the line for Dole Whip’s and buy them from inside the Tiki Room itself! I’m sure you have to work around show times but my friend told me that she NEVER waits in line for one!

Maybe planning the snacks is a little bit backwards but it helped me to plan out our meals. Since the park didn’t open until 10 am the day we went, the boys had breakfast at home. We had an early-ish lunch of hamburgers in Tomorrowland. It was at this moment that my 10-year-old decided that he wanted to eat an adult sized meal, even though he usually doesn’t finish a kid’s meal. And even with coaxing, he couldn’t be swayed. I will tell you that the kid’s meals are about $5 cheaper than adults meals and in hindsight, I probably could have ordered a kid’s meal and been happily full. Luckily he ate all of his lunch. For dinner we didn’t really have a plan but I remembered seeing Mexican food over in Frontierland and so we headed there. Because I knew that we were going to get treats, we didn’t need to go crazy with tons of food at dinner. My husband and I ended up each getting an enchilada platter ($15/each) and we split those with the kids. It saved us money, didn’t fill us up so much that we wouldn’t want treats, and was delicious!

BUILD IN SOME BREAKS

A full day at Disneyland is exhausting so be sure to build in some breaks. Talk about some of the shows you can watch at the park with your family before you go to see where you might be able to sit down and rest. While we didn’t have much interest in shows (although looking back I would have been real happy to go to the Tiki Room), we enjoy people watching and found a nice shady spot to chill out for a while. Each time we had one of our treats we also took the time to really enjoy it instead of eating it en route to something else. Breaks are important, especially if you have little kids! CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE

If you only have one day to spend at the Disneyland Resort, I think it is best to choose only one park. When we went for the blogger event a few years ago, it was really hard to juggle both parks. It takes a lot of time just to walk between the two so if you are going back and forth, you are doing a lot of walking but not much experiencing. My media tickets were park hoppers as well, so while my older son and I did go over to ride a ride, doing much more would have taken hours and hours. Instead of splitting your time, I think your kids will value the experience of visiting one park at a time. If you can swing it, do the 2 day tickets where you can do one park one day and the other the next.

I haven’t had that many opportunities to really explore California Adventure. It opened when I was in college and I’ve only been a handful of times. I think that it is a good place for younger kids as there is a full Cars Land and A Bug’s Life area. There are also a lot of shows for kids and seems very conducive to letting them run free a bit. This is also where you can get an adult beverage, so that’s awesome. The day we were there, we saw a 30 minute wait to sit at one of the bars. BEFORE YOU GO

I made it a point to give the kids expectations before we got to the park. We told them they would not be getting souvenirs (we live really close to Downtown Disney and anything they were desperate for could be gotten for a Christmas present). Plus who wants to carry those around all day anyway! Although they asked a few times, it was really easy to remind them about our policy. We also made sure to let them know that although they had things they really wanted to see or do, we couldn’t guarantee that we could do all of them. My oldest son has wanted to see the fireworks on our last two visits and didn’t get to each time. I wanted to try to put all that in to perspective for them so that their disappointment didn’t negate all the amazing times we had throughout the day.

You’ll also need to prepare yourself for the fact that after spending a perfect family day at Disneyland you will now want annual passes. And of course they announced the Disney Southern California Select Passport was back two days after our visit… While we can’t afford them now, they might just be something we try to work in to our budget. Seeing the kids have such an amazing time and getting to spend quality family time together was priceless. And while you can have those things elsewhere, there is something truly magical about Disneyland that I hope I can have my kids experience more often.

Last weekend Lionsgate invited my family on a wild adventure to the San Diego. To help promote their newest movie, THE WILD LIFE, my family was given the chance to do something totally out of the ordinary. When I first got the invite, I totally hesitated. On the agenda was tent camping at the San Diego Zoo… and I’ve never camped… but I knew my family would have the best time. I took myself right out of my comfort zone and decided to have a wild time! Before I had kids, I had a list of movies that would be a “no go” for me. I wouldn’t watch anything that was animated, would make me cry or had animals, especially if they were talking animals. After kids, you realize that you’re probably going to need to branch out from only watching romantic comedies. Thank goodness, because this list had everything on my original list except it didn’t make me cry.

The movie is set on a deserted island where wild animals live together in harmony. All of that changes when a shipwreck leaves a human, Robinson Crusoe, stranded on the island and they have to learn if they were meant to live together as friend or foe. The addition of two savage cats help the animals and human to realize that through teamwork and strength of friendship, they can work through anything.

The studio arranged for us to take the train down to San Diego. I did my best not to over pack but it was hard. Much like Robinson Crusoe, I had no idea what to expect as we headed off on our adventure. I highly recommend the train for family travel! From Orange County it took about 2 1/2 hours and didn’t include any road rage. It was fun to just enjoy each other’s company and watch the scenery which is something the driver never gets to do.As soon as we arrived in San Diego, we were taken to a local theater for a screening of THE WILD LIFE (in theaters everywhere September 9th!). Skip down to the end of the post to see the full trailer! I loved that the animals in the movie were not your standard movie animals. They were made up of animals that you don’t see everyday and included a macaw (named Tuesday), a pangolin (Pango), echidna (Epi), kingfisher (Kiki), chameleon (Carmelo), tapir (Rosie) and a goat (Scrubby). This unlikely group shows how strong friendships can get you through anything. After the movie, we arrived at the San Diego zoo and got to meet many kinds of animals that were in the movie. This macaw was so colorful! It was a truly cool experience for the kids to get to see these animals in person after seeing them in the movie. We toured the zoo in a double-decker bus and got to see some of the animal exhibits including HUGE elephants, lions, camels, meerkats (hysterical – I could watch them for days) and more.Then it was time to check out our accommodations for the night… that’s when it got really real. No, I take that back. About an hour later when I went back to get a sweatshirt and realized there were no lights in the tent, THEN it got real. Sleepovers at the zoo are reserved for large group reservations and include a full itinerary. We were introduced to tons of animals and had a bunch of activities for the kids to do (like a conservation craft, s’mores and a scavenger hunt). We also went on a night tour of part of the zoo which was such an amazing experience. You guys! I made it! And camping wasn’t so bad. My husband is threatening to take me again sometime. We met a few more animals before departing the zoo and hoping on the train to head home. This experience was so cool. I’m sure that being shipwrecked is harder than camping, but my experience was a little bit similar to Robinson. I made new friends, I bonded with my family and slept outside. Oh yeah. And I also ate a cricket. It tasted like a sunflower seed! Totally wild!

From the over-exuberant parrot Mak to the snack-obsessed tapir Rosie, from the persnickety echidna Epi to the acrobatic pangolin Pango, from the ditzy goat Scrubby to the commonsensical kingfisher Kiki and the always-cool chameleon Carmello, things are larger-than-life on a tropical isle that is pure wild animal paradise. Then Robinson Crusoe, a marooned human, arrives in the midst of a furious storm, and their lives are forever changed by this bewildering new “creature.” No matter their differences, castaway human and quirky animals embark on an hilarious new adventure, building the island’s first tree-house and surviving together. But when two conniving members of the animal kingdom — the savage cats Mal & May – pounce into a battle for control of the island, Crusoe and his animal posse must uncover the true power of friendship against all odds (even savage cats).

*My family was hosted on this THE WILD LIFE inspired weekend adventure by Lionsgate but, as always, all opinions are my own!

Irvine is a hard city in terms of restaurants. Sure we have tons of options at the major shopping centers. I mean, the Irvine Spectrum is full of delicious restaurants. But you don’t always want to go and deal with parking and the hassle of visiting a large mall. We have a lot of chain restaurants but sometimes you want a place that feels a little bit more like home. Finally we have a spot that fits that bill in Square One Pizza! Square One Pizza is the perfect family dining spot in Irvine (and the surrounding area!). I was invited, along with a few friends, to dine at the restaurant and share my thoughts. All opinions are my own. Square One Pizza is located in the Oak Creek Shopping Center (with Gelson’s and is across the parking lot from Orchard Supply Hardware). There is plenty of parking (even at lunch time – which can not be said for most of the other shopping centers…) and is easy to get to from anywhere in Irvine. It’s right off the 405 freeway so it’s easy to get to if you aren’t coming from the immediate area. The restaurant is comfortable, with plenty of seating and has a large patio off the back. While the service is great here, you never feel like you are in a rush.The wait staff is attentive, helpful and super friendly. This is where you come when you want to relax and enjoy your meal. It’s totally family friendly and the perfect spot to bring your kids. At lunch, you order from the counter and the food is brought to your table. At night, you are seated by a host and your order is taken at the table. It’s a casual spot that makes you feel a little spoiled. The menu is full of delicious food including appetizers, pizzas, pastas, salads and sandwiches. They serve Gluten Free pasta which my friend raves about! I’ve never met a pizza that I didn’t like so that’s usually what I order. Square One Pizza has a small bar area that is perfect for grabbing a glass of wine or a beer. They have a nice happy hour menu Monday – Friday from 3-6 pm and feature a few appetizer specials as well as house wine for $4/glass. Mondays are wine night and most wines by the glass are half off. Plus I’ve heard they are going to start doing some other wine events with tastings. I’m certain I can get my local gals to head over for those.They also offer beers on tap and feature some small craft breweries which I love. It’s a nice spot for dinner out that is casual and fun. The service is always amazing and the owners are friendly and welcoming. We don’t eat out too often but this is the place I want to go after a long week and I want to relax with my family and take a deep breath. The atmosphere is lovely. It’s not super loud like those mega restaurants and it’s also not so quiet where you are worried about how much noise your kids are making. It’s such a great balance of everything you want in a family dining restaurant. But I also wouldn’t hesitate to bring the girls here for a night out either. In fact, I got to do just that a few weeks ago. I had rounded up a group of friends to see the Bad Moms movie and had wanted to make it more of an experience for them. I had already seen it and I wanted to share a night out with them where we could just celebrate friendship and our time together. I knew Square One Pizza would be the perfect spot for us to have dinner. They graciously offered to host myself and 9 friends! for dinner prior to the movie. Some of us had been before but others had not. The gals who had eaten here before only had amazing things to say about it. They talked about how much they loved the food but also how gracious the restaurant is in terms of support for the local schools. And I loved that I got to introduce the delicious food to some of my other pals. It didn’t hurt that with so many of us ordering different things, I got to try a bunch of dishes I hadn’t had before. I usually order the Charred Steak Pizza. It’s amazing with the marinated steak, roasted corn, peppers, and Manchego Cheese. The pizzas are square and on the most delicious crispy thin crust dough. I feel like I should branch out and get other items, but I can’t quit this pizza. They also have more classic dishes like Chicken Scallopini and Spaghetti and Meatballs.There is truly something for everyone on the menu. The kids menu is also a crowd pleaser with several pizza and pasta options that kids love. I look forward to attending some of their upcoming wine events! And surprisingly, I’ve never tried their dessert! I’m definitely going to have to put that on my to-do list!

If you are looking for a place to take your family that you’ll all love, Square One Pizza is for you!

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My name is Sharon Garofalow. Based in So Cal, I am the mom to two amazing little boys and married to the raddest man in all the land. This is where I share a collection of cool, created by me or curated from around the web. I focus on untraditional party themes, unfussy fashion and creative activities for your modern family.cupcakesandcutlery@gmail.com